8/29/2013

VANCOUVER, WASH. -- Aug. 29, 2012 – The boards of commissioners of two public hospital districts have elected to enter into exclusive alliance negotiations with PeaceHealth, officials announced today.

The districts – Skagit County Public Hospital District Nos. 1 and 2, and Snohomish County Public Hospital District No. 3 – announced their decisions this afternoon at a public meeting. The decisions pave the way for Skagit Valley Hospital and Cascade Valley Hospital to enter into an alliance with PeaceHealth. This will be supported through a strategic collaboration with UW Medicine for tertiary and quaternary support.

The process to complete negotiations and finalize details is expected to take six to nine months.

“We are honored that the districts invited PeaceHealth to be considered, and are equally honored with their decision to move forward with us,” said Peter Adler, PeaceHealth Senior Vice President, Strategy, Innovation and Development. “We know they had choices, and we are humbled by the opportunity and their choice of PeaceHealth.

“This is great news for the area’s residents, who will benefit from the combined resources of their local hospitals, PeaceHealth and UW Medicine.”

The public hospital districts had entered into an interlocal agreement and were seeking a health-system alliance in order to combine resources, focus on improving patient care and access, and streamline services.

“We are excited to be selected to form an alliance with our neighboring hospitals and demonstrate how together we can build a regionally focused system of care for the patients, families and communities we mutually serve,” said Nancy Steiger, Northwest Network Chief Mission Officer and Chief Executive Officer. “The public hospital districts’ overarching goal of retaining and expanding excellence in health care for the people they serve is in total alignment with our own commitments in these communities. We believe we will be better together.”

Adler said PeaceHealth’s goal in Skagit and Snohomish counties is to preserve and provide the most care, closest to home, with a commitment to serve all, including those without the ability to pay. “We will collaborate with local providers, caregivers and communities to identify and meet the area’s health care needs,” Adler said. “This is exactly what we have been doing for more than a century in Northwest Washington.”

About PeaceHealthPeaceHealth is a not-for-profit health care system based in Vancouver, Wash., with services located in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. PeaceHealth includes a large multi-specialty medical group in all three states, laboratories, a Medicaid health plan (Columbia United Providers), and nine medical centers. Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, PeaceHealth has provided exceptional medicine and compassionate care to Northwest communities for more than a century.